The warm sunlight streaming in cast deep shadows from the bridge of my nose to my cheeks. Perhaps that explained why even his gentle smile appeared to conceal ulterior motives. Priest Karl clearly hid part of what happened that day from us.

While I considered how to extract the story, Asrein, having finished examining the surroundings, asked, “Where exactly did you witness the magical creature’s shadow?”

“I saw it through a small window inside the temple.”

The priest took a step back and pointed to the temple, his sleeves fluttering. Unlike the ornate front decorated with stained glass, the sides and back remained utterly plain, hidden from view. Several ordinary rectangular windows lined the faded stone walls. They were so small you couldn’t even stick your head out, barely allowing movement of one arm. Given how narrow the windows were, the view outside must have been quite limited…

After brief consideration, I carefully asked the priest, “Could we go inside to look?”

“Of course.”

The priest nodded more readily than expected. As I followed his lead toward the main entrance, Asrein, who had been silently following, stopped at a distance. When I turned around, he displayed a somewhat troubled expression with furrowed brows.

“…Professor?”

“Tae-oh. Can you go in alone? I’ll look around this area once more in the meantime.”

“What? Ah, yes. Then I’ll check near the window where the magical creature was supposedly seen.”

“I’m counting on you.”

Asrein, who slowly nodded, immediately returned to the backyard. It seemed strange that he would entrust me with exploring the temple interior, which was most important, when he usually wanted to see everything for himself. Assuming he had reasons that couldn’t be spoken, I caught up with Priest Karl, who had gone ahead.

The priest, waiting at the main entrance, tilted his head seeing me come alone.

“Are you coming in by yourself?”

“Ah, the professor said he wanted to look around outside more.”

“I see. I wanted to show him the inside personally.”

The priest opened the main door with apparent regret. Creaking – With an eerie hinge sound, a spacious area appeared. A chandelier that hadn’t been lit for a long time hung from the high ceiling, and long benches arranged in rows on both sides left the center aisle empty. However, no signs of recent human presence appeared anywhere.

While I looked around the temple where cool air lingered, the priest spoke while dusting off the benches, “This is where we mainly offer prayers to Lord Reton. I heard it used to be packed without empty seats when there were many devotees… but since I’ve never seen it myself, I can’t describe it in detail.”

Tap. Tap. The sound of shoes echoing in the empty prayer hall somehow felt lonely. Following him down the center aisle, I saw a double wooden door beneath a large altar. While closely examining the door whose purpose I couldn’t determine, I discovered an inscription carved on the doorframe.

‘Shed the false shell and face the truth.’

Unable to easily grasp its meaning, I murmured the sentence quietly. Then the priest, who had come closer, kindly explained.

“Beyond this door is the confessional. It’s a space prepared for devotees who wish to pray to Lord Reton after discarding their false appearances. Therefore, while someone is praying, I guard the door to ensure they aren’t disturbed.”

The priest guards the door… That meant if you entered the confessional, you could be alone for a while. As soon as I encountered this interesting fact, a natural question arose.

“Did the young man you mentioned also enter here?”

“Yes. He prayed in the confessional and left.”

Unlike before, this temple now receives extremely few visitors. So the priest must have focused all his attention on each individual devotee. Some might appreciate such intense attention, while others might not welcome it. At that time, the only place to escape the priest’s eyes would be the confessional.

“Then where did you see the magical creature’s shadow?”

“Through a window inside the confessional.”

Given the suspicious circumstances, I had to check inside the confessional.

“May I go in?”

“Since no one is praying inside now, that’s fine.”

As soon as I received permission, I reached for the doorknob. Just then, a quick hand darted out from the side and grabbed the doorknob first. Turning to look in surprise, I saw Priest Karl with a faint smile saying,

“Do you happen to have any items that shouldn’t lose their magical power?”

“Um, is there a reason?”

“You cannot use magical power inside the confessional. More precisely, the sacred relic inside repels magical power.”

“It repels… magical power?”

When I asked with a frown, the priest answered proudly, straightening his shoulders.

“Sacred relics blessed by god emit tremendous amounts of divine power. This creates a sacred domain filled with divine power centered on the relic. The moment you enter this dome-shaped area, most magic is dispelled.”

I recalled the basics of magic I had heard from Sezan earlier. Just as incompatible magical powers cannot mix, divine power apparently repels all magical power.

“That’s fascinating… Ah, I don’t have anything that would be a problem.”

After I answered definitively, the priest opened the confessional door. The small room of about 15 pyeong didn’t even have candles. But it wasn’t dark at all. This was because a chalice sitting alone on a marble pedestal gave off a soft glow. Though it looked ordinary, the aura of light surrounding it revealed it was no common object.

The priest, with his hands neatly clasped, spoke with an expression full of pride, “This is the chalice that held holy water when the High Priest received divine prophecy in the past. Though it has lost much of its light with time… isn’t it still beautiful?”

Since even I, who couldn’t sense magical power, felt uncomfortable, I could hardly imagine how tremendous the divine power filling this room must be. Moreover, as soon as I entered the confessional, my breathing became labored. Though I had only crossed the threshold, the air felt heavier than outside.

Cough. As I covered my mouth while clearing my throat, my sleeve slipped down slightly. This revealed Hyperion’s bracelet that had been hidden by clothing. But the bracelet’s form looked strange, very strange.

“…?”

The Phyllis vine used as material for the bracelet had never lost its vitality until now. But as soon as I entered the confessional, even its leaves had withered and twisted. It seemed that after staying unwilted thanks to magical power until now, it had returned to its original state when pushed back by divine power. Worried the vine might break if touched carelessly, I quickly lowered my sleeve to cover the bracelet.

Just as I swallowed dryly, a quiet voice caught my attention.

“This is the exact spot.”

“Pardon?”

“The window where I saw the magical creature’s shadow.”

His fingers, without a single callus, pointed to a small window. Upon approaching, I saw neither a handle nor even a gap for the window to open. When I tapped the window with the back of my hand, the perceptive priest said,

“None of the windows in the confessional can be opened. Also, we cover them with curtains during prayer.”

It was a space completely cut off from the outside. Moreover, as I tried various angles, the visible area outside remained limited as expected. I wondered if perhaps shadows of various objects had overlapped cleverly to resemble a magical creature. But through the window, only bushes and trees appeared visible in the backyard.

“Did you see it pass by here?”

“Yes. Exactly as I described earlier.”

The priest, who spoke calmly, left me at the window and walked to the sacred relic. Looking at his reverent back, I considered the possibilities alone.

According to Asrein, magical creatures don’t approach temples. Therefore, the shadow the priest saw must be either an illusion or a hallucination created by someone’s magic.

If it was a hallucination, where was the magic cast from? The safest place would naturally be the forest connected to the backyard. However, it would be difficult to cast magic on the priest who mainly stays inside the temple due to the distance.

The second most likely location would be inside the temple. In the temple where there are few distractions, the only place to escape the priest’s eyes is right here – the confessional. However, casting magic becomes impossible in the confessional due to the divine power emitted by the sacred relic.

Obstacles exist for every hypothesis. Then did he really… see a magical creature?

Wondering if I could see outside from a different angle, I pressed myself against the corner. But the view remained frustrating. Thinking there might be clues hidden behind the curtain, I raised my arm to pull it back. Again my sleeve slipped slightly, revealing Hyperion’s bracelet. But the bracelet’s appearance gradually changed.

“…Huh?”

The leaves that had completely withered like autumn leaves facing winter slowly regained their vitality. Eventually, they returned to their previous state as vibrant Phyllis vines. I quickly turned my head, but the sacred relic remained in its place.

Suddenly, one hypothesis flashed through my mind. To test it immediately, I kept my arm holding the curtain while moving only my steps sideways. The bracelet remained green. But when I slowly bent my arm inward past ‘a certain point,’ the Phyllis vines began withering from the tips. When I straightened my arm at the same speed, the opposite phenomenon occurred. A laugh escaped involuntarily as I couldn’t believe what my eyes showed me.

“…Hah.”

The priest explained that a dome-shaped sacred domain forms around the sacred relic. Therefore, a blind spot unaffected by divine power must exist in the corner of the square confessional. If someone knew this fact, they could easily use magic while avoiding the priest’s eyes.

One counterproof to my hypothesis disappeared. Now I just needed to solve the final problem.

Even if someone successfully cast magic on the priest, to make him see hallucinations at the desired moment, logically the caster would need to remain near the temple. The most suspicious person is the young man who visited the temple then. However, Priest Karl testified that the young man left the temple immediately after finishing his prayer. Is there no way to maintain magic after the caster leaves?

If—

“If they left behind a core…”

If they left a core containing sufficient magical power near the temple, it might be possible to use magic at the desired moment. To prove this hypothesis, I needed the priest’s testimony about the situation at that time. But whether he would willingly open up remained uncertain.

I casually asked the priest, who still stood before the sacred relic.

“Priest Karl. What kind of place is the confessional?”

“It is a sacred place to offer prayers to Lord Reton.”

Despite the sudden question, the priest turned to face me without being flustered. Even someone who appears calm must have weaknesses. Just as the professor’s words are absolute to me, god must be absolute to him.

“Then, as the inscription above the door says, all humans who stand here must speak the truth, right?”

When I mentioned god, his consistently calm pink eyes wavered for a moment.

“Please tell me. What exactly happened that day?”

The sacred relic behind Priest Karl shone brilliantly. It seemed to watch over us.